Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

Colonel Oro smiled helplessly, pointing to the burning tank wreckage beside him, emitting a pungent, acrid smell. "It's blown up. It was blown up by that missile you were holding in your hands. Honestly, what were you thinking? I feel only an orc would make the same decision as you..."

Ander didn't hear a word of what Colonel Oro said after that. He felt his memories rushing back like a tide. He stared blankly at the raging flames, and with his memory and vision simultaneously correcting each other, he actually saw a petite figure rising in the flames.

Thank you~

The figure waved to Ander, then flew into the sky and disappeared along with the flames.

Is that the soul of the missile? It must be the soul of the missile!

Ander became excited; this was the first time he had seen the appearance of a Machine Spirit, rather than the machine itself.

Was it a man or a woman? Ender tried to recall the figure, but found he couldn't remember the details, only a general outline.

It should be female, right? But would a machine spirit be confined to such a simple concept as gender?

Ander was skeptical, but then he remembered the recent popular stories about the machine spirits on the Exterminator, and judging from the content of those stories, most of the machine spirits were female.

"Ander! Ander! If you ignore my orders again, I'll send you to work in the rear!" Colonel Oro called out several times before finally bringing the distracted Ander back to his senses. He was very displeased, and his sharp gaze seemed to pierce through Ander's body.

"I'm sorry, Colonel!" Ender apologized immediately, having always been seen as honest and simple, he quickly came up with a good excuse, "I just still feel a bit sore..."

Upon hearing what Ander said, Colonel Oro's anger subsided considerably. He looked at Ander's chest and said, "You're really lucky, you know? That shell hit you directly in the chest. It should have blown you into a bloody mist, but look at yourself. Not only is your head intact, but your torso is also completely intact. It's just that your breastplate was completely shattered."

“I think it has to do with the armor plates I salvaged from the recycling center. I installed them on the inside of my breastplate, and that saved my life.”

"Armor plates? What armor plates?"

"Those Xuan-style defensive armor plates that needed to be reworked because they were damaged. I heard some of the armor plates crying, so I bought them..."

Ander covered his mouth; buying armor plates that were to be recycled in private was against the rules, and he and the person who sold him the armor plates would be sentenced to death.

But Colonel Oro wasn't in the mood to investigate the disciplinary issue. He just kept staring at Ander's chest and pressed, "You heard the armor plates crying... how many were crying? Give me a specific number."

“Uh…numbers…” Ander didn’t understand why Colonel Oro was asking these questions. He vaguely felt that if he could answer quickly, Colonel Oro would definitely give him a lighter punishment. “Very few. Most armor plates are silent. Only a few armor plates make bursts of crying sounds. The lining of my breastplate was also made after a long time of collecting materials.”

At this point, Ander breathed a sigh of relief, "Now I can no longer hear their cries. Their wishes have been fulfilled, and they have returned in glory to the Savior along with their comrades."

Colonel Oro gave Ander a deep look; he felt this situation had to be reported.

He stood up and watched as the enemy's last line of defense was torn to shreds by the 55th Special Forces Regiment, several beacons were thrown into the factory, and fighter jets blasted this terrible, desecrated place into pieces.

"Can you stand up?" Colonel Oro asked. Ander took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and stood up. "It's good that you can stand up. Our battle isn't over yet." Colonel Oro slapped the missile launcher into Ander's arms, grabbed his weapon, and ran forward.

Holding the remaining missile launchers, Ander could hear the machine spirits within these weapons complaining to him.

Ha... Go ahead and go find her. Why are you coming back to us?

Exactly! We chat with you every day, but you just leave us lying on the ground and ignore us!

Waaah... What will I do if you die? I will never let a second person pull my trigger.

The missile launchers were somewhat displeased, while the missiles praised Ander's actions.

You've made our friends incredibly proud! I knew working with you would bring good things! Keep it up!

As Ender basked in the praise of the missiles, he soothed the missile launchers, kissing each one through his mask and promising, "I will not die on the battlefield until your wishes are fulfilled. I swear in the name of the Savior."

The machine spirits stopped complaining, but some of them smugly muttered that Ander was really glib.

A few days later, on the bridge of the Punisher, Komi looked at the battle report in his hand and spat out the water in his mouth.

He had been troubled by some issues with the pure white living room these past few days, but now it seems that the problem has been adequately explained.

Chapter 525: The Birth of the 'Machine Soul'

War creates death and also allows a large number of souls to flow into the Pure White Hall. Those who believe in the Savior will become soul bricks after death, as will those they kill.

Things proceeded as planned by Komi. His troops became increasingly adept at air raids during the battle. This surgical precision, with a power no less than that of heavy artillery bombardment, made it impossible for the enemy to hold any front.

Iron Star will soon be conquered, and Komi, who made the greatest contribution in this battle, will rightfully become the ruler of this world.

Until those things appeared beside the throne.

Komi returned to the hall with a heavy heart. He needed to carefully examine the report he had just seen to determine whether these things were the 'machine spirits' his soldiers had mentioned.

Is this really reasonable...? Even Vashtor didn't create a so-called machine soul; he just fused demons and machines together.

Koji stared intently at the 'machine spirits'. These things were quite small, mostly only the size of his palm, and could fly up and down without wings or anything like that.

Its outline is basically human-shaped, but it has no clear facial features, and its limbs are not visible. Its body is rolling like flames.

Strangely enough, although they had no faces, Komi always felt that he could see the appearances of these 'machine spirits', but when he actually tried to imagine their appearances, he found that he couldn't remember anything, as if these 'machine spirits' had just thrown a concept into Komi's mind.

It's like someone describing to you a beautiful woman with a slender figure and gentle temperament. Those adjectives can't accurately summarize the woman's appearance like data, but they can give you a vague outline in your mind, and you can even imagine what her voice is like.

Such imaginations may differ due to different people's experiences and knowledge, but they tend to converge because of similar understandings of a certain concept.

Take, for example, the 'machine spirit' that Komi is currently staring at. If you ask her what it looks like, Komi can't say anything. But if you ask her for a general description, Komi has a lot to say.

I noticed that this 'Mech Soul' has red hair that could be braided into twin ponytails, and always has a disdainful and arrogant expression on its face. It keeps saying things like: "You lowly soldier! Why aren't you protecting me?!" It's incredibly arrogant.

Komi could even imagine more. When this 'machine spirit' triumphantly confronted the soldier's somewhat clumsy hand, using its spring-loaded structure to pinch the soldier's fingers to show how formidable it was, the soldier didn't persist but turned to take care of the other 'machine spirits'.

The other 'machine spirits' also have very standard appearances: long, straight black hair and gentle older sister figures. Even if the soldiers' movements are a bit clumsy, they can still smile and gently encourage them.

Then this 'machine spirit' immediately revealed its defeated appearance, its original arrogance vanished like smoke, and it humbly and weakly begged the soldier for forgiveness.

Um... I was just kidding, please don't leave me hanging...

Ugh... damn it.

Komi shook his head, complaining about how his active brain could imagine so many outrageous things. Then he reached out and made a 'machine spirit' land. A familiar scent emanated from the 'machine spirit' and entered Komi's nose.

This taste... it seems somewhat familiar.

Koken narrowed his eyes. In this idealistic yet materialistic world, the soul not only has color but also a smell. He dared not say that his ability to sense the essence of the soul could compare with that of the gods, but he had far more experience than ordinary people.

By smelling them, Koken could tell that the scent of these 'machine souls' was not much different from the scent of the soul bricks that flowed into his room. To be more precise, the scent was more like that of the soul bricks formed from the souls of the fallen Punisher soldiers.

At that moment, Koji suddenly remembered something. He had given a thorough explanation of what a machine spirit was. He said that a machine spirit is a kind of spirit that resides in a machine and is carefully cared for by humans.

He originally made this explanation only to cover up the fact that the escalating machine fetish on the Exterminator was the influence of Slaanesh's curse, but now it seems that it was these overly explicit explanations that gave birth to the 'Machine Soul'.

The subspace is a projection of souls and thoughts, where all ideas are displayed, even the vague subconscious that is not perceived by the individual can have a place here. Perhaps there were machine spirits in the subspace in the past, but Koken can assure you that the existence of these machine spirits is quite elusive. After all, the Cult of Mechanism has never clearly defined the principle of the birth of machine spirits as he has, but has only blurred it, leaving the priests of the cult to argue endlessly about the nature of machine spirits.

I said the Machine Soul is a remnant of the Golden Age AI, you said the Machine Soul is the spirit inherent in the machine itself, he said the Machine Soul is an angel sent down by the God of Machines, and that person said the Machine Soul is a helpless measure to teach ignorant country bumpkins to take care of their equipment.

Such arguments are not seen on the Punisher, because the concept has already been decided by Komi, and there are even stories circulating on the Punisher that serve this concept.

When chaotic concepts are clarified, what will a unified ideology create? Naturally, it will be these machine spirits with the characteristics of the Exterminator.

They are not dangerous beasts, nor are they cold-blooded logical beings; they have their own likes and desires just like ordinary humans.

However, the source of this desire is not pure.

Komi stroked a 'machine spirit', rubbing her blurry little face against his palm, and faint prayers could be heard coming from the 'machine spirit's' body.

It is clear that these machine souls are not only constructed by the ideas projected into the subspace, but also by a part of the soul of their master, just like the cultivators in cultivation novels who choose to forge a sword by throwing a part of their own soul into it in order to give it a spiritual quality.

After much deliberation, Komi was able to determine the true nature of these 'machine spirits'. Their birth was closely related to her, but their users could not absolve themselves of responsibility either. The more a soldier believed in Komi's theory, the more effort and emotion they invested in the machine spirits, and this also constituted a part of that mysterious soul.

As for those soldiers who don't believe in this, their weapons are just weapons. Even if there really are any machine spirits, they are only those that conform to the vague concept of the Mechanicus, acting like wild beasts, and could never have such spirituality.

So what is the use of this thing?

Komi thought of what was written in the combat report: some soldiers who claimed to be able to hear the call of the machine spirits had equipment that was obviously better, sometimes even better than normal.

Artilleryman: I can determine the landing point of the shell without calculation. Why, you ask? Miss Machine Soul already told me, didn't she? Can't you see that arc that streaks across the sky?

Infantryman: I didn't pull the trigger, but the laser gun fired on its own because the machine spirit spotted the enemy before I could!

Armored vehicle driver: While you are still observing the surroundings through the periscope, my senses are already integrated with the vehicle. I can see what the rear of the vehicle looks like by closing my eyes in the cockpit.

Chapter 526: I Have Four Ways to Get Freebies

call...

Having figured out the origin of these 'machine spirits', Koji breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that his pure white room had been invaded by some kind of ghost.

Koji was about to leave when he suddenly stopped. He blinked and suddenly realized that these 'machine spirits' were similar to the birth of something else.

In the early days of the War of Heaven, before the Warp was turned into a cesspool, the Eldar were able to create their own demons to fight alongside them; they simply called these guardian spirits back then.

Isn't this 'machine soul' born from the trend of thought similar to the guardian spirits created by the spirit race in the past?

Machine Soul...a demon belonging to humanity itself.

No, no, no... perhaps this shouldn't be called a machine soul? After all, it's something new, not...

No, no... it should be called Machine Soul. This term for machines is too deeply ingrained in people's minds, and changing it rashly would be bad.

Yes! That's what we call the Machine Soul! This is the Machine Soul! Those things from the Mechanicus Cult aren't the Machine Soul at all; they're just electronic beasts that haven't overcome mechanical logic!

Komi blinked, beginning to imagine how his fabricated explanation of the nature of machine spirits would become popular within the Cult of Machine God, causing a huge uproar at the Mars headquarters. Then, this theory would become the only explanation for machine spirits, an unquestionable truth. At that time, the entire empire would indirectly believe in the Savior, and a part of their souls would transform into machine spirits, returning to the pure white hall and lingering around my throne.

Ah... the soul returns to the throne.

What a wonderful future!

How many sources of my soul do I have now?

The dead who believed in the Savior; enemies killed by the Savior's followers; a grand chorus of unified voices and thoughts; a soul nurtured with emotion...

Four different sources of souls!

The ways to grow stronger are increasing; it's just that the scale is currently insufficient.

Komi believed that once the war in the Gothic Sector ended, he would be able to use the prestige he gained in the battle to promote these methods, and at that time, he would be able to seize a portion of the faith of the people in the entire sector!

On Monday, people work hard and then choose to sing on the grand stage after get off work. Their souls resonate in the chorus, and the echoes of their souls will fill the pure white hall.

On Wednesday, a rebellion broke out in the lower levels of the hive. Many soldiers and traitors died in the suppression, and the souls of those who believed in the Savior returned to the halls and became bricks.

On Friday, the mechanical clerks completed the maintenance of the machine. Their emotions and efforts were condensed into the machine, transforming into a nascent machine spirit that slowly grew.

On Sundays, people gather in churches, praying devoutly to the Savior and praising His mercy and tolerance. When asked what the difference is between the Savior and the Emperor, people say: The Emperor is majestic yet merciful, while the Savior is merciful yet majestic.

This is awesome! I'm really taking advantage of this opportunity.

The emperor hears so many prayers every day, he wouldn't complain if he heard one or two less, would he?

Koji was about to leave with a smile when he noticed some newly formed soul bricks floating in front of him. Before he could react to the damage on the soul bricks, a mechanical soul pounced on them and hugged them tightly before he could react.

The size of this machine spirit was similar to the broken soul brick, so Koken wasn't surprised. After all, he had previously analyzed that these machine spirits were born from a part of their user's soul.